Julie King, director of conservation and wildlife management for the Catalina Island Conservancy, prepares to release an island fox after giving it a thorough checkup Friday. The fox was nearly wiped out by canine distemper in 1999, their numbers dwindling to fewer than 100. Now they are up to 1,500, possibly the carrying capacity of the island, because of a vaccination and captive-breeding program. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Catalina Island Conservancy

The Catalina Island Conservancy was established in 1972 and has owned 88 percent of the island since 1975. The land was deeded to conservancy by the Wrigley family of chewing-gum fame.

The conservancy's mission is to maintain the ecological health of the island and safeguard species such as the endangered Catalina Island fox

Catching the cat-sized island fox is a simple proposition: a little cat food, it turns out, and a pungent lure.

Biologists working their trap lines on Santa Catalina Island routinely recapture the same animals as they move along the island's spine, monitoring, vaccinating and caring for what is likely one of the best-protected endangered species in the world.

“They're considered a trap-happy species because they get this positive reinforcement,” Julie King, director of wildlife management at the Catalina Island Conservancy, said last week as she checked one of dozens of traps hidden in the island's brush. “They tend to be very easy to capture over and over.”

The tiny foxes, nearly wiped out in 1999 by an outbreak of canine distemper, have made what their caretakers consider to be an astonishing comeback. From a low of about 100 animals, they now number an estimated 1,500 – a figure that might be close to the maximum fox population the island can sustain.

“This is one of the fastest recoveries of an endangered species on record,” said conservancy president and CEO Ann Muscat.

But threats to the foxes remain; conservancy scientists must keep close tabs on them, drawing blood from captives to check for distemper and rabies and placing radio collars on “sentinel” foxes that remain unvaccinated so they can pick up whatever diseases might be lurking and alert biologists.

The foxes, one of six subspecies found among the eight Channel Islands off California, have likely inhabited Catalina for thousands of years – as many as 8,000 by a recent estimate.

Whether they arrived on a raft of vegetation flushed into the sea by storm or were carried to the island by early Native Americans, the foxes have become a kind of rock-star species among the island's natives.

Today, however, they must share the island with many nonnative imports – not only with bison, descended from a herd brought to Catalina for a movie in which they never appeared, but the island's human residents, their pets and interlopers like raccoons, the original source of the distemper outbreak.

So every year, King and other conservancy biologists make their six-week trapping runs, using a battery of tools to give the animals shots and checkups.

Keeping them calm requires no sedation, as it does with larger animals on the mainland.

All the foxes need is a combination muzzle and mask that covers their eyes while the scientists keep a firm hold on them for 10 to 15 minutes as they do their work.

“I have two gloves and a decoy glove,” King said as she drew a male roughly 4 years old from a cage trap he might have been inside overnight. “This saves my fingers.”

But the fox, which had been trapped before, only growled a bit, then remained quiet and cooperative once he was comfortably situated in King's lap.

The fox had been weighed while still in the cage (the cage's weight is subtracted later). King rolled him on his back to check his eyes – all clear – and his teeth. This one had a few missing, normal for his age, as well as significant tooth wear.

Related Links

Julie King, director of conservation and wildlife management for the Catalina Island Conservancy, prepares to release an island fox after giving it a thorough checkup Friday. The fox was nearly wiped out by canine distemper in 1999, their numbers dwindling to fewer than 100. Now they are up to 1,500, possibly the carrying capacity of the island, because of a vaccination and captive-breeding program. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Julie King, conservation and wildlife management director for the Catalina Island Conservancy, writes down data while giving a fox a thorough checkup Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Catalina Island Conservancy's Julie King removes an island fox from a trap before giving it a checkup Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Biologist Julie King writes down an island fox's ID number before giving vaccinations and making measurements while checking a trap line above Avalon on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An island fox waits to be measured and vaccinated after being trapped by biologists for the Catalina Island Conservancy on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Biologist Julie King resets a fox trap above Avalon on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Biologist Julie King vaccinates a fox during her rounds Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An island fox bounds away after being vaccinated and measured Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Biologist Julie King weighs an island fox before administering vaccinations Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Biologist Julie King checks the teeth of an island fox during an examination Friday on Santa Catalina Island. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Julie King heads into the brush to reset a fox trap while making her rounds Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
An island fox rests in the firm grip of biologist Julie King of the Catalina Island Conservancy during an examination Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Julie King heads into the brush to reset a fox trap while making her rounds above Avalon on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Julie King of the Catalina Island Conservancyresets a fox trap while making her rounds Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Julie King resets a fox trap while making her rounds above Avalon on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
John Mack, chief conservation and education officer for the Catalina Island Conservancy, talks Friday about the Catalina Island ironwood, an endemic species. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Julie King hikes up a hill after resetting a fox trap above Avalon on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A pink ribbon marks the location of a fox trap on Satna Catalina Island on Friday. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Avalon Bay off Santa Catalina Island. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.